Half Blood Heroes: Eternal Rivers

Somebody's Gonna Kill Me

"Here we are, land of Mount Rushmore." He said, helping me off the horse. "Hopefully, no bad omens." Arin dragged me to a small stand outside a house. "Hello, Dee-dee." A girl with green glasses and blonde hair looked up. "Salutations Ron, need a 'key'?" She winked. "I'll get it ready." She leaned down and picked up a box. "Take care, Lincoln's head?" He nodded. "Ok who was that?" I asked, looking at him. "She's a former camper, she left camp and now she lives here."

"What's her real name?"

"Nadine."

"You call her Dee-dee?"

"Yeah." He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. In front of me was Mount Rushmore in all its Mount Rushmore beauty. "Wow." I had no other words, I had never seen it before and seen it only in pictures. "What is the 'key' and Lincoln's head?" He pointed a barely visible glimmer in the distance. "There, the entrance to Tír Na Nog is in San Francisco near Alcatraz. The map to L. A which has the key is on Lincoln's head." He tapped my nose. He grabbed me and brought me to an isolated area. "Start climbing here and be careful."

"You're just gonna leave me?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Heights aren't my thing."

I grabbed the rope and started climbing up. The wind was cold, stinging my nose. "I'm gonna kill him when I get down." I quietly muttered to myself. Imagine my shock when I finally got to the top and saw two Fomorians with bombs. "What the heck guys?" They turned around with their blood-red eyes. (By eyes I mean each one of them had one eye). It seemed to stare daggers into my soul. "You do you." I squeaked out. They roared in my face. They needed a dentist appointment. I don't think even the best toothpaste will make their breath smell better. "ARIN CONNOR I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I GET DOWN!" He got the message and screamed back. "GIVE ME THREE MINUTES, TOPS!" I swung my sword at them. I saw him climb over the edge. "Coming." He pulled out his sword and began attacking the other one. "There's a bomb." We heard the loud frequency of megaphones. The Fomorians stepped back. "Get down from there kids, we'll send people up there to talk to you." So, they thought we were suicidal now. Helicopter blades were heard in the distance. I grabbed my pocket knife and ran to the bomb. "I'mma cut it." Arin swung at both Fomorians hitting one with the hilt of his sword.

I stared at the wires. "Sheesh, Fomorians are intellectuals." I didn't know what it meant, I just heard people say it and ran with the herd. "Which wire should I cut?"

"The blue or red one."

"Why?"

"That's usually how it is in the movies."

I looked down and replied. "There's no red or blue wires, just orange, white, and yellow and black." He kicked one off the mountain. "Cut them all." I took my sword and cut all of them. I kicked the Fomorian off the mountain and picked up the box beside the bomb.

Arin and I had gone down the mountain. "I think I did okay." Not even two seconds later there was a loud explosion. "Scrap that." He grabbed me and put me behind a tree. "We need to explain to Birgid how we nearly blew up Mount Rushmore. Did you get the box?" I held the box out to him. "Thanks."

"You mad at me?"

"No."

"Good, I thought-"

"Of course, I'm mad at you. Let's just get to the key and go to the Irish Underworld." I stormed off and whistled. The horses came down and stopped in front of us. "Arin? Will I see people who died there?" He nodded, nonchalantly at that. "Will I see my dad? Answer honestly." He tugged on his collar. "Since Danu loved him I don't think Fomorians would dare upset the mother goddess."

"But they'll try, won't they?" He nodded. "To get your mind off it, we'll take the scenic route." The horses dipped into a nose-dive headed straight for the ground.

The cold wind whipped my hair everywhere. There go #fixedhair goals. Arin sealed his eyes shut, with the wind in his eyes. My mother was also the goddess of wind so it didn't bother me too much.

We landed not too far from L.A. The horses whinnied before leaving. "C'mon, we're looking for something on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. There were a bunch of people and famous people being followed by paparazzi. I saw a family of five people waiting for their Uber. One of them looked up at me. I looked away awkwardly. "Arin? Can we visit the beach? That'll get my head off, my dad." He thought for a moment and brought me to the beach. Once again I saw the family of five, they were climbing around the ropes. I tapped my feet to get the sand off them. Arin was playing with sand like a 5-yr old boy. "Arin, look at this." I climbed up a rope and did a backflip. "Show-off." He attempted to do the same trick but added his special flares. "Look who's talking." I chased him to the water, instead of running into the water he called for the sand to form stepping stones. I followed him with my trick of making water shoes. Luckily, it just looked like we were running around in the water. The water was always healing to me. But something felt wrong, the water felt weak. I clutched my chest. Arin turned around and helped me up. "You okay?" I nodded and stood up. Walked three steps and face-planted into the sand.

I woke up on the sand. I looked down and saw myself covered in sand. "ARIN!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. He came running with a shovel. "Sorry, you passed out so I took advantage of the situation." I rolled my eyes. "Thanks" He smiled and pulled me out. I dusted myself off and pushed him into the sand. "Sheesh."

"Whatever." I helped him up, he walked towards the walk to fame. "It's been 3 years since I asked Brigid to have a Hollywood Walk Of Fame for camp." He said striking poses on the stars. "She never considered it." I laughed at his childish behavior. He can be annoying but he was an innocent person. "Arin? What are the chances we'll get attacked?"

"A good 75/25. Since you are the daughter of a powerful goddess."

"Somebody's gonna kill me." He turned around and cupped my face. "Don't jinx it." He turned on his heels and continued dancing on the stars. "Dude, you're gonna look like a street performer."

"Better than looking like a blonde emo girl"

"Excuse me I-" I was cut off by the sounds of a large roar.